Tuesday, June 12, 2012

Tuesday's Tip - Census & Google Alerts

Shortly afterwards I created an assortment of alerts using Google Reader. This simple tool has revealed an amazing amount of information. From genealogy articles, blogs and webinar announcements. There is no question the alerts have kept me connected and furthered my learning.

Today one of the most interesting alerts showed up on the site. Several weeks ago I created the "hindsley" + "census" alert. My goal was to see if 1940 U.S. Census information for the Hindsley family would be captured.

6 comments:

Google Alerts is absolutely the greatest tool, but as with all tools, adding a little skill in use can make all the difference. I first learned about Google Alerts during my daughter's debate team days in high school. We quickly found that having an "Advanced Search" mentality helped decrease the number of extraneous hits--but there were always those out-of-the-blue alternative uses for words that we thought had only one kind of meaning! As in real-life searches for my "Flowers" family ancestors, for instance, I have to employ terms that help limit the results yielded or I get flooded with not-so-helpful hits.

I agree, you need to use a wee bit of skill when creating the searches. One of the family line's is Ruth. That causes all types of trouble. Have you tried using "surname"? Was wondering if that could help bring down some of the results.

Yes, Deb. I imagine you have to use something like "surname Ruth not "Babe" or something like that! Have to admit I have not been brave enough to cope with setting up alerts for all the "Jones" family yet!!

This is a great idea, though! Adding "census" is the charm, that I will do!

I love using Google Alerts with my genealogy. Now when I have a search term I check for in Google I don't have to remember to re-check it later when new pages have gotten indexed. I just create a Google Alert.

By the way, I see according to Geneabloggers, today is the second anniversary of when you starteed blogging. Happy Blogiversary.

About Me

Hello to the world of blogging! I work for our local public library and several years ago we had a technology initiative. One of our assignments was to create a blog. So here I am learning about genealogy and blogging at the same time. The goal is to learn something every day, connect to people with similar interests, and have fun along the way!